Gharees swartz



C. SWARTZ.

SHARPENIING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. l. 1911.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY mamas swAn'rz, ornnwYoaK; 1m. Y.

Specification of- Letters Eatent.

SiHAfRlf-ENING nEvIcE. I

Patented Oct. '7, 1919.

Applibation filedMarch 7, 1917, Serial to. 153,113;

To all wit-bat it mciy concem."

Be it known that emme, SwARrz',fa citizen of the United States,- residing at New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sharpening Deg vices,- of which the following is a full, clear and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

iThis invention relatesto machines for sharpening edged articles such as razor blades; I p 3 One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple and practical mechanism of the Character mentioned which is capable of" efficient, expeditious and economfical operation.

A furtherebj'e'ctis to-provi'de animproved sharpening machine in wliiclra plurality of blades are simultaneously actedupon and in which the insertion 'and' removal' of 'the blades is facilitated; Z i

Another object is to: provide an improved machine for resharp'eni'ng safety razor blades which shall be largely automatic in operation, and which is ofist'urdysimple con-'- struction:

Other obj'ects a-ndadwantages will in part be obvious and in part noted hereinafter in connection-with the description of the ac-" companiying drawing, in whicha Figure 1 is a side elevational view'of the Fig. 2 is one end elevation Fig; 3 is the opposite end elevation;

Fig. at is an enlarged fragmentary view of certain parts; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end of the; blade gripper.

The typical embod ment of the inventlon shown, comprises in generate longitudinal supporting base 1 on which are mounted a pair of rotatable, substantially semrcylmdrical, sharpening rolls 2, 3 in spaced parallel relation on shafts 4, 5, in turn provided with engaging pinions 6 at one end and actuated through a pulley 7 from a suitable power source, such as a motor. Intermediate and below the stropping rolls 2, 3 there is provided a longitudinal worm shaft 8 on the frame 1, which also has an end gear 9 meshing with a pinion 10 on shaft 5, and

which is thereby caused to rotate simultaneously with the stroppingelements, but preferably at reduced speed.

The articlesto be sharpened, in the presentinstance safety razor'bla d'es, are mounted in'a remova'ble clamping'holdei" 11 adapted for insertion in a gripper '12, in turn connected by a resilient metal sheet 13 to a carrier 14. The latter is provided on its under face with worm threads 15 complementary to' the threads on the lead shaft 8, and the car rier with the blades positioned therein is adaptedfor longitudinal orendwise insertron inthe machine (at the ri'ght in Fig. 1)

at the moment when the stropping rolls 2, 3 aredisposed in the relation substantially as shown in Fig. 3. Thereupon theshaft 8 engages with the, threads of the blade carrierand the latters travel longitudinally ('to the left of Fig. 1) is au'tomatically com menced and continued; This travel continues until the blades have passed beyond the stropping elements, whereupon the carriermay be removed upwardly between the shafts 4 and 5. The carrier 14 has also lateral extensions 16-which take into corresponding recesses in guides 17 mounted on i the base 1 at opposite sides of'the lead shaft. Du-ring the lateraltravel of the blade carrier the stropping rolls turn in opposite directions and alternately wipe over opposite sidesof the spiii ng-pressed blades in such amanner that the 'bladesreeeive an oblique strokesubstantially the same as the action given in manual stropp'ihg;

The rolls 2, 3 may be" divided into sections, as; shown njFig. 1, whereupon a portlon of the surfacing, to whiclrthe blades areimtially subj ected, imparts a honing action and the remainder imparts a stropping action. The rolls are, for'purpose' of lightness and conomy in manufacture, preferably hollow," and each carries a counterweight 18 whlch serves to reduce vibration or unnecessary wear when the machine is operated.

A material advantage of the device also resides in the adaptability for lateral insertion and removal of the blades during operation. While the blades themselves are disposed in the common zone of rotation of the stroppers' (or the overlapping area of rotation of the latter), the stroppers are so shaped with rounded corners 19 and so disposed that, at predetermined intervals in the rotation thereof, free entrance is permitted for the blade insertions. Operation of the machine is thus expedited and at the same time there is no likelihood of injury to the stropping surfaces when the .blades are inserted.

In order to locate the blades securely against a tendency to displacement by the wiping action of the stropping rolls, the holder 11 is made to positively coact' with the blades in a manner which insures against their accidental removal. As shown in Fig.

v4: for a common type of blade, the holder is formed of a spring clip provided with reoesses in one wall between lateral extensions 20 adapted to engage the blades above portions of the latter of increased longitudinal dimension. For bladesof other makes similar holders are provided, in that they comprise a clamp in the nature of a spring clip of a peculiar shape suitable to lock the particular blade to be operated upon. All of such holder interchangeably fit within the resiliently supported gripper 12,-so that the machine as shown is adapted for operation with substantially all kinds of blades upon the mere substitution of corresponding blade holders.

It will also be understood that a plurality of the blade carriers may be used for successive and end to end insertion between the stropping rolls. In this manner a plurality of blades are expeditiously and economically sharpened at each operation, and the machine maybe kept in continuous sharpening use.

The resilient mounting of the blades, which enables yielding of the latter as the respective stropping rolls contact therewith, affords a light pressure which insures effective stropping. A further advantage of the mechanism described resides in the positive timing of the stropp ing operation. By means of the speed ratio between the shaft 8 and the rolls, it is determined positively just how long the blades are acted upon, and each set of blades is then automatically sharpened for the same period, whereby danger of burning or otherwise injuring the blades is avoided.

Having described my invention, what I Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0.

in combination, a pair of spaced rotatable stropping rolls of substantially semi-cylindrical contour, said rolls being disposed oppositely and being alternately rotatable through a common zone or space, means for resiliently supporting a plurality of blades in said common zone or space, the parts being so designed as to permit endwise entrance of said means with blade supported thereby during rotation of said rolls, and a longitudinal worm shaft adapted to effect longitudinal travel of said means after iii-- sertion to a point where the blades carried by said means are without the space of rotation of sald rolls.

3. In a device of the character described,

in combination, a pair of oppositely rotatable spaced parallel stropping rolls of substantially semi-cylindrical contour,

ternately rotatable through a common space,

a carrier, a blade gripper resiliently supported thereby and adapted to position blades for alternate wiping engagement by said rolls, means to pernrnt endwise insertion of said blade gripper between said rolls during the rotation of the latter, and means to move said carrier longitudinally with respect to said rolls and without the space of action thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES SWARTZ. 'Witnesses: f

' H. WATSON,

O. J. KULBERG.

Commissioner of Iatents,

saidrolls being disposed oppositely and being 211-, 

